eMusic, which started selling music downloads four years before Apple Inc. launched the iTunes store, on Tuesday announced at the Consumer Electronics Show it is opening up its store to all buyers, not just members who pay a monthly fee.
"While our focus and core audience remains the same, our new business model now opens eMusic up for everyone to enjoy what we bring to the table: insightful editorial that we curate independently from our sales division, and personalized discovery technology that draws upon the diverse tastes of our unique eMusic community," said eMusic Chief Executive Adam Klein.
More than 42 million eMusic accounts have been created since 2004, though the company has not specified how many of those customers are still actively buying music. Of those who do, they tend to download full albums more often than individual tracks -- 82% of their music downloads are albums, with the rest being singles. Between 2011 to 2012, U.S. eMusic members downloaded a total of 6,202,694 albums, the company said. The company, which also sells digital books, is privately held and does not disclose revenue.
eMusic's new dashboard, announced today (Photo: eMusic)